国内英语资讯:Spotlight: Chinas ivory trade ban offers hope for future of African elephants_时事

国内英语资讯:Spotlight: Chinas ivory trade ban offers hope for future of African elephants

"The Chinese authorities will continue to clamp down on ivory collection as well as processing, sales, transportation and smuggling of elephant tusks," the administration said.

The move affects 34 processing enterprises and 143 designated trading venues, with all of them to close, in the world's once largest ivory market.

"China has long been one of the world's biggest markets for ivory. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Tanzania is very delighted to see the doors of this market closed," Amani Ngusaru, the organization's country director for Tanzania said .

"We are particularly excited to see that the government of China has followed through on a great promise it made to the world, offering hope for the future of elephants in Africa," he said.

Ngusaru said it was important to realize that commercial ivory trade ban in China alone will not be sufficient deterrence for elephant poachers, adding that the same action should be taken by other nations where ivory trading is still practiced.

TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network, said in a report in December 2017 that Japan remained one of the world's largest domestic ivory markets, and is home to an active, though shrinking, ivory manufacturing industry.

The report, compiled with the support of the World Wildlife Fund, said 2.42 tonnes of ivory, including elephant tusks, antiques and jewellery, were illegally exported from Japan between 2011 and 2016.